Description

The Somali Integration & Development Association (SIDA) is a charity based in Camberwell, South London. Back in 2016, a Camberwell-based writer responded to the creative drive of the children and families of the Somali community who came to her with the idea for a writing project. They wanted to write stories and poems, develop a body of work to document their presence in the UK in a positive way. In short, they wanted to be a part of the cultural landscape. This writer worked with SIDA, the young people & families and the Victoria & Albert Museum Learning Department to develop a project outline and secure funding from the Arts Council. Over the course of 2017 the children and families attended writing, arts, performance and storytelling workshops. The poems and stories they developed at these workshops are collected in an anthology, to be published at a book launch on Saturday 17 March 2018 at Cambridge House, Camberwell. Invited guests for the event include the Mayor of Southwark, a Senior Lecturer of SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) and several writers.